Poly Styrene's album Generation Indigo, a witty, fresh and surprisingly commercial batch of songs, earned rave reviews when it was released last month. "I just channel my songs like a medium," she said of the new material. "If my friends like them, then I'm quite happy that they're good songs." She had planned to take the new songs on tour.

To the last, she remained committed to her original punk aesthetic. "Punk attitude lives on," she said, "because of the spirit of its fearlessness to try to change things for the better."

Poly lit the way for me as a female singer who wanted to sing about ideas. She taught me, by example, that fame was less the goal than something to back away from when it started to invade your core. Her lyrics influenced EVERYONE I KNOW WHO MAKES MUSIC.

But to simply describe Marianne Joan Elliott-Said as a punk is to imprison her memory within perimeters – it doesn’t allow the full story to be told. Poly Styrene’s music was thrillingly, achingly human, containing sentiments and emotions vital within any era, not just in Xeroxed, safety pin pierced snapshots of yore.

Aggressively, produly self-made; smart, funny and punk in ways that people don't always realise punk should be. She's a terrible loss to the world, but has at least left some remarkable work behind her:

1 comment:

Each one of these women inspired me in different ways. I liked Poly Styrene's optimism & her voice both her singing voice & her outlook on life. I admired Ari Up's ability to be true to herself and creative and productive all her life. It's sad that cancer would take both of them within such a short period of time.RIP Poly Styrene.